Harry Potter and the Midnight Cat
by key of darkness
Summary: A strange summer, strange visitors and a strange cat are only the beginning...
1. Midnight

Key of Darkness/ waves at crowd timidly. / umm… Hi! This is my first straying in the big wide world of Harry Potter, so… umm… please be nice.

Justin: she always gets jumpy with her first story. / hand s her a cup of coffee to sooth her nerves/

Key of Darkness: thanks.

Justin: disclaimers?

Key of Darkness: none of the characters belong to me I only borrow them and return them, hopefully, in one piece.

Justin: warnings?

Key of Darkness: mild child abuse in this chapter. As o foot note, it's set after OotP.

Justin: and on to the story…

HD

Harry stared at the dark, cracked ceiling. He had been lying on the floor staring upwards for hours. I was night now and the Dursleys were finally asleep. His muscles screamed at him to move into a more comfortable position, but he stayed still. Maybe they would just forget about him and let him drown in his own misery instead of dragging him out and making him do chores all day.

A cat leapt lightly onto the window sill outside his window and his shifted his head to get a better look at it. It was a silver point Siamese. Silver blue eyes gazed in at him and locked with his own green ones for a moment before it started to play with an over hanging vine.

Harry smiled.

The cat turned back to him and meowed.

Harry jumped.

The cat sat down and stared at him again. Then it tapped the glass with its paw. It meowed again.

Harry stood and walked over to the window and unhooked the latch. He opened it and the cat jumped lightly onto the floor and rubbed up against his legs.

"You gotta stay quiet or you'll wake up the idiots down stairs." Harry muttered to the cat.

The cat just purred and Harry realized that it was stupid to talk to a cat.

"Like you understood that anyway."

The cat continued purring.

Harry reached out and rubbed it head gently. He sank to the floor, his back leaning up against the wall and the cat jumped into his lap, curled up and went to sleep. Harry sighed. At least now he had someone to talk to, whether it understood was an entirely different question.

HD

Sunlight steamed through the open curtains. Harry blinked.

The cat was gone.

The window was open slightly and Harry got up to close it. He glanced out, down to the road.

It was a nice day. Not to hot, not to cool, not to bright, yet not overcast. He leaned on the window sill and watched a mother with two children walk down the street towards the play ground.

He wondered what it would have been like to have grown up with proper parents, a godfather who loved him…

His heart jerked when he thought of Sirius. He missed him so much. Tears started to well up in the corners of his eyes and he let the run slowly down his cheeks.

"BOY! GET DOWN HERE NOW BOY!"

Harry turned, wiped away the tears and opened his door.

Uncle Vernon stood at the bottom of the stairs, glaring up at him.

"Get down here now!"

Harry did as he was told and walked calmly and slowly down the stairs. Just before he reached the last step, he stopped.

"What do you want?"

He was knocked sideways in response. "Don't you dare speak to me like that! You should be grateful!"

Harry could feel the bruise forming on his cheek and he tried not to react to the words or the blow. He pulled himself to his feet and stood in front of his uncle again.

"We have two visitors this afternoon. You are to clean the whole house, top to bottom by three pm. Get to it!" He turned around and left, walking out the front door.

Harry went into the kitchen where Aunt Petunia was making fancy sandwiches. She looked up at him, then back to the cutting board.

"Start in the garden, then work your way from the front of the house inwards. All the stuff is in the hall cupboard."

Harry nodded and went outside. He opened the garden shed and grabbed some pruning shears from the shelf and started on the hedge.

Half an hour later he was finished the hedge and onto the garden, pulling out the weeds and watering it. That quickly done, he mowed the lawn with a push mower and put everything back in the shed.

Inside he dusted, swept, cleaned polished and generally tided the whole house.

It was noon and he still hadn't had anything to eat. He wandered into the kitchen again and found his aunt still busy cooking.

"Over there." She said without looking up. "On the table."

Harry turned and saw a plate of ham and cheese sandwiches and a glass of water.

"Hurry and eat then go back to your room."

Harry drank the water, ate one sandwich and took the other with him up to his room. He locked the door to his room behind him and put the sandwich down the bedside table for later. He flopped onto the bed and stared at the ceiling again, and slowly, he drifted off to sleep.

HD

He was awoken again by the sound of the door bell ringing.

"GET THAT BOY!"

Harry darted down stairs, not wanting to aggravate his uncle again. He opened the door, expecting to see people dressed in suits from his uncle's work. But instead there were two kids.

A tallish girl of about fifteen with bright red frizzy hair and bright blue eyes stood talking to a tall, thin boy of his own age. He was very pale and elegant with a navy blue bandana that completely covered his hair. His eyes were almost silver and he looked hauntingly familiar, but Harry couldn't quite place him. They were both wearing a green and navy school uniform.

"… and the Protron…Hi!" Beamed the girl as she spotted him.

Aunt Petunia rushed forward and pushed Harry to the side slightly. "Get out of here." She hissed out of the corner of her mouth. Harry turned and walked back up the stairs.

Her voice floated up the stairs behind him.

"…come in come in! How was school..."

Harry shook his head and closed the door quietly behind him. Why the hell where to school kids here?

Five minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Harry got up and opened it. The red headed girl was there.

"Dumbledore wishes to send on a message." She whispered. "You will be out of here within the week. In the meantime, we will be watching over you every afternoon. I trust you met the cat last night?"

Harry nodded.

"Trust him. He's in the order."

"Why did the oh mighty ones down stairs let you in?"

"The powers that be tricked them into thinking that we are the children of friends who have no where to go after school. Lets just say… the order has gained mew allies." She winked and turned on her heal. "I better get back to the oh mighty ones down stairs as you call them. See yah!" she swung the door closed behind her and Harry heard her walk down the stairs.

He shook his head. The order? She didn't look a day older than fifteen. To hell with that. Even so, he gathered his stuff together and flung it in his suitcase, wanting to be safe rather than sorry.

HD

It was about seven thirty when he heard a car pull into the driveway. He glanced out the window and looked down. The red headed girl and her companion where getting into what looked like… a battered old blue Angela Ford! Harry grinned. It was the Weasely's old flying car! So he was going to be rescued! He opened his door and almost skipped down the stairs.

"Who said YOU could come out boy?" uncle Vernon roared.

"I noticed you guests left and I wondered if you wanted diner." Harry replied politely. Once again, Vernon struck him with a force that sent him to his knees.

"Get back upstairs! If we want something, WE"LL MAKE IT OURSELVES! OUT!" Harry dragged himself to his feet and hauled himself up the stairs.

So much for happiness. Almost instantly, the leapt on the window sill and mewed. Harry opened the window and the cat leapt into his arms and purred. Holding the cat to his chest, he closed the window and the door and sat on the end of the bed. He grabbed the sandwich still sitting on the bed side table and bit into it.

The cat sniffed the air and Harry pulled a corner off for it. It pounced on it and devoured it in three seconds flat then curled up, content at the foot of his bed. Harry flopped down on his belly facing it and the cat opened one silver blue eye to stare back at him.

"So you're part of the order huh?"

The cat nodded its head. Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Anyone I know?"

The cat nodded and curled up again, signalling the conversation was over.

HD

This routine of the strange kids coming over, Vernon hitting him any chance he got and the cat visiting him at night went on for three more days before the plan unravelled. It was the night the cat didn't show up.

Harry waited by the window, looking out into the darkness when he saw something move.

A shadow, darker than to others, mover towards the house. The room started getting colder and Harry suddenly felt the life go out of him.

A Dementor.

Harry pulled his wand out of his jeans pocket and opened his door, creeping down stairs. The Dursley's had already gone to bed so everything was silent, dark and gloomy. He crept through the lounge room and into the kitchen, doing a sweep of the house.

Something moved behind him. He spun round. The space behind him was empty. In the distance he could hear a dog barking. He frowned. It was getting closer and closer and closer until it seemed like it was right in the back yard.

A huge black dog flew through the window, shattering it and landed on the carpet, still barking its head off . A black shape moved to its left and at Harry raised his wand, the dog leapt and landed on it, knock it to the ground.

Suddenly there was movement all around him. People apparated in and some just appeared. Spells flew everywhere and people yelled. The dog barked and growled.

Someone grabbed Harry around the waist and **_BANG…_**

Key of Darkness/more relaxed/ I love cliff hangers.

HD

Justin: on another subject… as I am only supposed to be your muse for Power Rangers, though I never stay there, do you want me to set up an appointment for someone more appropriate?

Key of Darkness/nods/

Justin: anyone in particular/takes out a note pad/

Key of Darkness: Hermione. It would be good to have another girl around the office.

Justin: are you being sexist?

Key of Darkness: not at all. It just seems that all my muses are boys.

Justin/thinks about it/ good point…

Key of Darkness: see you at chap two!


	2. Flight

Key of Darkness: good morning!

Justin/waves/. You have a meeting with Hermione Granger next chapter KOD. Shall I write it on your calendar?

Key of Darkness: My God! You sound like Alfred from Batman!

Justin: is that a good thing?

Key of Darkness/thinks/. Let me think about that.

HD

It was an odd feeling, being two places at once. It came and went in a split second and he crashed to the floor on top of someone. Instantly he on his feet and we spun looking for a door a place to run, or something he could get under until his head stopped spinning.

Another bang and the dog was back, voices started yelling, most of them directed at him. Someone grabbed his arm; he threw them off and backed away, bumping into someone else.

He spun again, and tried to focus on something, anything, but everything was blurred and he realized that he had lost his glasses somewhere along the line. Someone else tried to reach out to him but he moved away again.

"Stop that dog barking!"

"Everyone quiet!"

"..He's lost his glasses; he can't see anything properly…"

"Someone shut that dog up!"

"Harry…"

"…Harry calm down…"

Yet another person tried to grab him and this time he lashed out, connecting but he couldn't tell where.

"Guys! GUYS! Just leave him be. He's frightened enough as it is! Just let him calm down."

Harry was panting, his heart beating wildly, his vision distorted down to shadowy figures and objects leering out at him.

A figure stepped forward and he backed away.

"Harry, its Remus. It's alright." Harry tried to focus on him, but without his glasses, his vision was still too blurred to see if the figure was telling the truth. A hand slowly reached out towards him, but stopped when he took another half step back.

"Harry, listen to me. Listen to my voice. You're safe. Calm down. It's alright now." The hand moved forward again and Harry reached out his own, through the fear, recognising the voice of a friend.

The hand took his and he knew he was safe. The Remus moved toward him and warped his other arm around the frighten boys shoulders, leading him out through the door.

The dog barked again and it leapt forward to pad along beside them. Harry pulled away from it, and Remus pulled him closer to him. "It's okay. The dog's a friend."

Harry's heart still hadn't returned to normal and he was hyper alert, every sound making him jump, and every time Remus comforted him. They reached a flight of stairs and slowly they climbed upwards, Harry depending on his former teacher to lead to way, almost completely blind without his glasses.

As they slowly made their way up the stairs, Harry heard a cat meow. He tried to look round, forgetting about not having his glasses. He stopped, forcing Remus to stop too.

"Harry?"

Something rubbed against his legs and he looked down. A blurred silvery shape greeted him. Harry bent down and picked the cat up. It shifted in his arms then settled.

"Looks like you've found a friend." Harry nodded and they started moving again.

"Where are we going?" he asked softly.

Remus turned to him. "Somewhere safe. I can't tell you where exactly. But then it's on to HQ."

"Where are we now?"

"Somewhere safe, too dangerous to tell you exactly."

Harry fell silent again.

The cat purred.

The dog padded along quietly.

The stairs ended and the four walked, correction, three walked and one was carried, down a corridor. Harry started to get jittery again. It was dark and everything seemed more frightening without his glasses. Remus opened a door and they walked through into an even darker room. Against one wall, something moved, like a curtain blown by an invisible breeze.

Harry pulled back slightly, but Remus kept his grip firm and pulled him towards it. Remus reached out and caught the edge of the moving thing and, pulling Harry after him, stepped through.

HD

The light stung Harrys' eyes and he clamped them shut. The dog started barking again and the cat in his arms hissed slightly at the noise. He could hear the sound of pots and pans clanging together and it was far warmer here than it had been before.

"Harry!" it was Ron's voice and Harry turned to where it came from. He heard footsteps running towards him. Not one set, but many.

He opened his eyes. A red blur raced over to him, quickly followed by three others.

"Ron?"

"Yeah mate. Where are your glasses?" the cat started hissing louder as Ron got closer to him. Someone took it out of his arms and it gave a loud, mournful meow.

"I'll go and see if I can find your glasses for you." Remus whispered in his ear. "You're safe here. You're at headquarters."

Harry nodded and let Ron lead him to a seat.

"So what are you doing here Harry?" the voice sounded like Fred or George's. He felt a warm cup being pressed into his hands and suddenly Mrs. Weasley was there.

"All right! All right! Give him a bit of space you lot. Leave him be. Have you had breakfast dear?" she asked kindly. The gang around him backed off a bit.

Harry shook his head, and she bustled off muttering something about over worked and under feed. As soon as she turned her back, he was surrounded again.

"So… what are you doing here?"

"I, I don't really know…"

"You just appeared out of no where…"

"What happened to your face…"

"Did you come from the legacy?"

"Where have you been?"

"…why didn't you answer any…"

"…did they do to you?"

"QUIET!" Mrs Weasley had returned. "All of you OUT!"

"But mum…" the twins whined in unison.

"But mum nothing. Out!"

Harry felt a warm hand on his shoulder and someone pressed something into his hands. It was his glasses. Gratefully he put them on and once again, his vision was clear. Mrs Weasley stood in front of his, her hair tied up in a bun and a large wooden spoon in her hands. Remus was beside him, a hand still on his shoulder. He looked even older and even tiered than Harry had ever seen him. His face was pale and his hair was starting to go greyer. Beside his old teacher stood a shaggy black dog.

Harry's heart almost skipped a beat. It looked exactly like Sirius. The dog barked quietly and put its head in his lap. Harry patted his head and tears started to form the corners of his eyes.

"He's not, Harry. Sirius is gone." Harry nodded.

"What's his name?" he whispered.

"Snuffs, short for Snuffles. But a lot of us call him Padfoot." Harry nodded again.

"Harry dear," Mrs Weasley said gently, "what happened to your face."

"The basterd hit him." Harry turned. The red headed girl walked into the room and flopped down on the seat next to him. "With fists like his, I wouldn't be surprised if he fractured your cheek bone. He's really given you a shiner."

Snuffles flopped down at her feet and she bent down a scratched his ears. "Have you been formally introduced to my dog yet?"

"Yeah. Where did you get him?"

"Turned put on my door step not long ago and before you start…"

"We have already been through the whole Sirius thing." Remus interrupted politely.

"I was going to say he's house trained, but that too…"

The cat jumped up on the table and almost instantly was thrown off again by Mrs Weasley. "You know you're not allowed up there!"

The cat stalked off sulkily and walked out the door.

"And that's Ignis."

"Bloody tornado on four paws. He can be worse than the twins some times."

The two red heads shot through the door and mock bowed to their mother. "You called?" they had obviously been standing with their ears pressed to the door, waiting for a reason to butt in.

Ron poked his head round the door and was quickly swatted with a dish towel. "Ow!"

"I told you to stay out of the kitchen!"

"But we wanted to be the ones to break the news about Dr…"

"OUT!" three voice shouted. The twins scarpered.

Harry put his head down on the table and sighed. There was just to much happening. "They wanted to break the news about what?" he asked, knowing the answer wasn't going to be to his liking.

"DRACOSERE!" the girl got up and slammed the door and Harry could hear people falling over and complaining.

"I really don't like the sound of that."

Remus sighed. "Take this as good news or bad news, we have a resident."

"So I gathered. Why?" Harry rubbed his hands over his face. This day was really not going well.

"He's not as bad as you think Harry." The girl said quietly.

"OH YEAH?HE BULLIED ME, HE TORMENTED ME, HE WAS DOWN RIGHT CRULE TO ME FROM DAY ONE, AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT HE ISN'T ALL THAT BAD?" Harry was on his feet, the chair lying on its side on the floor. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S LIKE?"

"I'm his cousin, Angel Malfoy-Black. Pleased to make your aquantience."

HD

Key of Darkness: dun, dun, dun…

Justin: hee, hee!


	3. Members

Key of Darkness: Just a note, this is set in Harry's sixth year as I started writing this before I read book six. However, I will retain elements of the latest book in this story, what with Ron and Lavender and the Weasley Wizards Wheezes and what not.

Justin: Hi/waves/

"I also apologize for leaving this story for so long, but I am now going into my sixth month of glandular fever and everything is slow at this point. So bear with me.

HP

Remus sighed. "Take this as good news or bad news, we have a resident."

"So I gathered. Why?" Harry rubbed his hands over his face. This day was really not going well.

"He's not as bad as you think Harry." The girl said quietly.

"OH YEAH? HE BULLIED ME, HE TORMENTED ME, HE WAS DOWN RIGHT CRULE TO ME FROM DAY ONE, AND YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT HE ISN'T ALL THAT BAD?" Harry was on his feet, the chair lying on its side on the floor. "HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT HE'S LIKE?"

"I'm his cousin, Angel Malfoy-Black. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

HD

.Harry was stunned. Here, a girl with flaming red, frizzy hair was claiming to be Draco Malfoys cousin.

"That's not possible." He stammered.

She smiled quietly. "Well, I'm not exactly his cousin, but through blood and power, it would seem I am. Really Harry, you barely know half of the story with Dray, he's really not that bad."

Harry leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes. "I'm listening."

"Draco is the most gentle soul you will ever know…"

Harry snorted.

"…if you realize what he has been through his whole Life. The life that he has been forced to live is that of a lie he was forced into by his father. It was him, not Draco that hurt you. What Malfoy did to his son I do not know, and now that I think of it, I do not want to know. But if you take anything seriously that I am saying, it should be this: Draco does not hate you, he never has and he never will. His father forced him to be cruel to you and he regrets every minute of it. It is tearing him apart."

Harry rolled his eyes and fiddled with the fork in front to him. "Okay. Let's just say that Malfoy isn't the evil git we all think he is. I still want one question answered, what the hell is he doing here? This is the headquarters of his father's enemies for gods' sake! His father could be using him as a spy!"

"His father is in Azkaban."

"Knowing him, he has links!"

Remus placed his hands gently on Harry's shoulders. Harry glared up at him. "The Draco that you knew was a mask to stop him form getting killed by his father."

"How do you know he isn't still wearing that _mask_?"

Angel sat forward in her chair and looked into his eyes, "Because Draco can't lie when he's talking to me."

"He lie's through his teeth!"

"He would be very stupid if he did when he's anywhere near me. I can tell when people are lying and Draco is no exception."

"Who are you?"

"Angel Malfoy-Black is all you need to know."

"Not good enough."

Angel smiled, never taking her eyes of the black haired boy. "You have your mother's eyes you know… and your great grandfather's completion by the look of you."

"How do you know that?" Harry's eyes narrowed with suspicion.

"I am as old as time itself." She leaned back in her chair, "Time is funny. It is as old as the ages yet it has not begun. So really, I am as old as the ages but I haven't been born yet." Her eyes snapped back into focus. "Time is powerful Harry. It is shifting, moving, it is all around us. We are it and it is us. We are time. It's a paradox." She relaxed again and smiled.

"I did not understand a word of that."

Remus squeezed his shoulders and laughed. "Neither do I. I never have either."

"You know her?"

"For well over twenty years."

"My head hurts."

"Well eat your soup before it becomes chilled." Mrs. Weasley, who had been standing over to one side, mothered.

Angel sighed, stood and stretched. "I suppose we should let 'them who have ears pressed to door' in." There was a great amount of shuffling, a muffled bang and an "OWW" as Angel swaggered lazily over to the door.

It swung open, revealing a troop of red heads, a brunet and a silver cat.

The dog growled slightly and the cat hissed back.

"They have a love hate relationship at the moment. A certain dog managed to close a door on a certain cat's tail." Angel remarked as she leaned down and scooped the cat into her arms. It started purring. The dog wined.

Harry patted it's head.

Ron smiled weakly and said softly, "Have you heard his name yet?"

Harry nodded.

"Hermione and I named him in memory."

"I figured as much." Harry stared down at his soup, thinking. Snuffles nosed his leg and he looked down into the blue eyes. "I miss him."

Ron and Hermione ran forward and wrapped their arms around him, Hermione resting her cheek on his head. "We all do." She whispered, "Granted not as much as you, but we still miss him."

Ginny and the twins sat down around him, Ginny putting a hand on Harry's arm.

"What the legacy?" Harry asked finally.

"A place where…"

"… The wont let us go. They say it's…."

"… too dangerous….

"…For underage Wizards." Fred finished.

Ginny took her hand off his arm. "It's the new place that they go for the meetings. They go into one of the rooms upstairs,"

"Which is locked." interrupted Ron.

She glared at him. "And they are gone for hours. It started as soon as Angel got here."

Angel smiled at the mention of her name.

"They wont tell us anything about it though." mused Ron, running his hand through his hair. "It's weird."

"Why do they call it the legacy?" asked Harry, still thoroughly confused.

"It probably comes form part of what they over heard in the old meetings." Remus quipped with a rouge smile.

"We perfected the extendable ears…"

"… They can hear through doors even with the best of spells placed on them." the twins said grinning madly.

"Their meddling was the main reason we moved the meetings to the…" Mrs. Weasel clamped her jaws shut and renewed her efforts to remove her children plus Hermione out of the kitchen.

"Yesssss?" Fred pried.

"None of your business. Now out! The lot of you!"

"I think it's high time you gave up Molly. With Harry's arrival they won't be able to sleep any way." Remus said with a twinkle in his eyes.

Molly groaned and gave in. She flopped down onto the chair at the end of the table and just watched.

Harry, for the first time, took notice of his friend's state of dress. All of them were in pajamas. Ron's were still an inch above his ankles and the twins were almost threading bare. Ginny on the other hand had one of her mothers hand knitted, baggy jumpers over the top of her night dress, and, Harry noticed, she looked quiet pretty. Hermione however wore a sensible top and long pants with teddy bears printed on them.

Ignis leapt on the table and mewed, ducking the dish towel Molly had thrown at him.

"Get OFF THE TABLE!" she yelled.

Ignis turned, looked at her and meowed something that sounded suspiciously like 'no!' He then threw himself into Harry's arms and started purring again.

HP

Key of Darkness: see you at chapter 4!


End file.
